Estonia: Prison sentence for university professor for spying for Russia
In Estonia, an ex-professor of the University of Tartu has been sentenced to a prison term of six years and three months for espionage on behalf of Russia. The Russian citizen was found guilty by a court in Tallinn on Tuesday for acting in the interest and on behalf of a foreign intelligence service against the Republic of Estonia.
Accordingly, the academic is alleged to have collected information about the interior, defense, and security policy of the Baltic EU and NATO country, as well as related persons and infrastructure.
The professor was arrested by the Estonian Security Police in January and has been in pre-trial detention since then. The University of Tartu had terminated the employment relationship with the academic due to the espionage allegations. The scientist had been active at the university since 2010. According to the Security Police, he is suspected of spying for the Russian military intelligence service GRU.
- The university professor's espionage activities on behalf of Russia, involving the collection of sensitive information about Estonia's interior, defense, and security policy, were carried out clandestinely, reminiscent of the work of a secret service agent.
- Despite his distinguished career at the University of Tartu since 2010, the foreign national, origination undisclosed, found himself convicted for his actions and ordered to serve a prison sentence of six years and three months in Estonia, a member of both the EU and NATO, for his espionage activities against the country.
- The Estonian Security Police alleges that the imprisoned academic, who once taught at the University of Tartu, was working under the influence of Russia's military intelligence service GRU, demonstrating a continued threat of espionage from foreign entities to the national security of Estonia.
